Brainard Joe Illustrator (3 results)

Softcover. First Edition, First Printing. Octavo, 101 pages. In Good condition. Aged white spine with black lettering. Covers have mild shelving wear, moderate age-toning along the spine and edges, mild age-toning along the central covers, water damage along the rear head corner, and mild wear along the spine head and tail edges. Textblock has mild water damage from the head fore corner of page 101 to the rear end-page, and mild age-toning along the edges. Signed flat by John Ashberry on the title page. NOTE: Shelved in Room Z. 1386014. Special Collections - Downstairs. Signed.…

Saddle-stapled wraps. Condition: Fine. First Edition. A truly fine copy of the first edition of 1973, copy #149 of the 200 unnumbered copies (of 350 issued total). Original white stapled wraps printed in red. Illustrated by Joe Brianerd.

First edition of the song cycle that poet Frank O'Hara called "The Quarrel Sonata," first performed in 1955, with an introduction by composer Ned Rorem. These four art songs follow the rise and fall of a modern romantic relationship, from the first meeting on a Brooklyn-bound subway to the final break: "'you win the bet / I'm off to Siam / I'll climb to Tibet / the eternal I am' . . . 'You hateful man! / Leave while you can.'" In his introduction, Rorem notes: "The singers should not limit themselves to classifications of tenor and soprano. If negotiable, they may be baritone and mezzo. In fact, anyone who wants to sing the piece may sing the piece." The striking wrappers were designed by O'Hara and Rorem's mutual friend, New York artist Joe Brainard, in the pop style he developed for his mimeographed C Comics. A near-fine copy. Side-stapled musical score, measuring 12 x 9 inches: 64. Original color pictorial wrappers, small price sticker to title page. Spine ends lightly bumped, crease to lower right corner of upper wrapper.…